UNC Y staff are professionals who devote their time to the efficient operation of UNC Y efforts, guidance, and counseling for Y members and committees, training of officers and co-chairs in leadership skills and outreach to other units of UNC-Chapel Hill and the community.
Christine Arnsberger
UNC Y Business Manager
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Christine Arnsberger, originally from Germany, has lived in the U.S. since 1995. She’s been living in Carrboro with her family since 1999. Before that she lived in several intentional communities in Germany and the U.S.
Throughout her professional career Christine has worked as a paralegal for several law firms in the Triangle area, with a major emphasis on affordable housing; bankruptcy; and intellectual property law. She enjoys working at the UNC Y as the business manager, interacting with students, faculty, staff and visitors. Christine has a BA in sociology and MA in German literature from the University of Bielefeld, Germany; a law/paralegal degree from Germany, as well as a paralegal degree from Meredith College.
Yalitza Ramos
UNC Y Director and Director of the Bonner Leader Program
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Yalitza is a double Tar Heel, having earned from UNC-Chapel Hill a master’s degree in Social Work in 2014 and a BA in Psychology and Spanish in 2005. Between studies, Yalitza has worked for Carolina on local, statewide, and global projects in the areas of program evaluation, early childhood education, high-quality instruction, educational access, asset development, and financial empowerment. As part of her field work and in partnership with Volunteers for Youth, Yalitza taught a service-learning course for Buckley Public Service Scholars in the SMART Mentoring program. For over a decade she volunteered in the community with organizations such as the Orange County Literacy Council, Girls on the Run of the Triangle, former Family Violence Prevention Center, and Chapel Hill/Carrboro City Schools. Before joining the UNC Y staff, she was at Durham’s Partnership for Children working to ensure high-quality standards and compliance for funded partners, build strong partnerships within communities, and engage families and communities in leadership and advocacy. Yalitza lives in Durham with her husband and daughters.
Jakelin Bonilla
Social Innovation Initiative Coordinator
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Sista Jakelin “Jaki” Bonilla graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2012 with a major in global studies and a minor in Entrepreneurship. At Carolina, she founded Linking Immigrants to New Communities, which helps ease the transition of recent immigrants through student interaction and awareness-raising in the community, and served on the UNC Emerging Communities Taskforce that established the Carolina Latina/o Collaborative, dedicated to developing a greater awareness of Latina/o issues, cultures and identities. Jakelin also conducted ethnographic research and volunteered in Central and South America, served as co-chair of the Great Decisions Program, mentored in the Scholars Latino Initiative, and worked as a senior intern in the Bonners Leaders Program at the UNC Y. After graduating from Carolina she served as the director of the UNC Y’s Global Gap-Year Fellowship for three years before she was awarded the Henry Luce Scholarship and worked at the United Nations Official Migration Agency-International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Thailand. Jakelin has recently returned to the UNC Y to continue supporting students’ social justice and social innovation initiatives.
Araseli Valverde
Director of the Global Gap-Year Fellowship
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Araseli is a North Carolina native who graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill. While at Carolina, she double majored in global studies and romance languages, and also minored in public policy. Furthermore, Araseli was also a Global Gap-Year Fellow, a Carolina Covenant scholar and a McNair scholar. As a Global Gap-Year Fellow, she volunteered in Italy and Türkiye. As a McNair scholar, she was able to conduct research on Italian post-colonization. Most recently, Araseli was able to complete a year in Italy as a Fulbright scholar. Overall, Araseli is extremely excited to help grow the Global Gap-Year Fellowship. By doing so, she hopes to make it more accessible, inclusive, and diverse.
Sarah Smith
UNC Y Assistant Director of Civic Engagement
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Sarah came to UNC-Chapel Hill in 2006 to study archaeology but soon realized her passion was in public service. In 2010, she earned her BA in anthropology with minors in social and economic justice and Asian studies before joining the staff of the Carolina Center for Public Service. As student services specialist, Sarah worked directly with the Buckley Public Service Scholars program, the Service-Learning Initiative (APPLES), and the Bryan Social Innovation Fellowships.
Sarah recently completed her M. Phil. in international peace studies from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. During her two years in Dublin, she helped develop policy for Trinity around ethical development volunteering and taught a course on intercultural competencies in partnership with two N.C. schools.